00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're looking at the history of video game adaptations from the
00:10good to the bad to the very ugly. Video game adaptations are bigger than ever,
00:21with some of the most successful blockbusters and most prestige TV being taken from video game
00:25source material. But it wasn't always this way. Video game shows and films had a rough arrive,
00:35going through some real growing pains over the years. They started from the humblest beginnings,
00:40with the little-known Mirai Ninja being the first feature-length film released back in 1988. The
00:45film played in Japan but English-speaking audiences never got a theatrical release and wouldn't get
00:50a chance to see it for 7 years. It wasn't until 1995 that, under the title Cyber Ninja,
00:57an English dub was available on VHS, dooming it to little more than an obscure footnote.
01:04The Bad The film, much more widely recognized as the original video game adaptation,
01:08was 1993's Super Mario Bros. Sure, it was adapting the most famous game in the world,
01:13but in truth, the movie had little to do with its source material other than character names
01:18and the prevalence of mushrooms. It started a trend of video game films that very loosely adapted
01:25their source material, which were often cheesy. They also had a trend of featuring beloved character
01:29actors like Dennis Hopper, Robert Patrick, or Raul Julia in his final-ever role, chewing the scenery
01:35and villainous roles. Often flops and critically panned, for good reason, these films usually still
01:53had some charm to them, with many going on to achieve cult classic status.
01:57The good At the same time that these adaptations were floundering at the box office, they were
02:08flourishing on TV. In the 90s, several shows aimed at children took the world by storm.
02:17Shows based on Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man became respectable hits, as did an Emmy-winning game
02:22show based on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, which even received a spin-off in an animated series.
02:28By far the most successful adaptation was based on a recently released game for the Game Boy.
02:37Thanks in no small part to the anime's success, Pokemon became the most profitable media franchise
02:42of all time, even getting numerous film releases following the show's plots and characters.
02:46With the profitability of that franchise, film studios saw how valuable video game IP could be.
02:58As the new millennium dawned, companies began to crank out more and more adaptations,
03:02each more soulless than the last.
03:08Two directors in particular became famous, or perhaps infamous, for their video game films.
03:13Paul W.S. Anderson and Uwe Boll produced many of the most reviled video game properties.
03:18Films from Boll in particular, such as Alone in the Dark and House of the Dead,
03:22are often listed as the worst movies ever made.
03:32These and others released at the time were cheap cash grabs from people who neither understood
03:36nor cared about what they were adapting.
03:38We have to stop anything from getting to the surface, by any means necessary.
03:45The Bad
03:46There was hope, however.
03:47Over the years, creators began putting in the effort to create well-made films based on video games,
03:52some even launching franchises.
03:54They weren't all terribly successful at first, however.
03:57While far from perfect, 2006's Silent Hill was an early example of real talent existing behind the scenes,
04:04including director Christoph Gaunt and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Roger Avery penning the script.
04:09If you don't want to do this, I'll understand.
04:13Prince of Persia of the Sands of Time was meant to spawn a mega-franchise,
04:17with Disney giving it a roughly $200 million budget, essentially unheard of for a video game film at the time.
04:23What aren't you telling me?
04:25Warcraft and Assassin's Creed would follow suit years later, with big budgets and respected directors.
04:31Take it. Do what you couldn't do 30 years ago.
04:35While all these films were relative disappointments, they at least showed some promise,
04:39proving that talented people who cared about games were finally getting a chance to helm these projects.
04:44I feel restored.
04:48We need you.
04:49We've been agonizing over our options.
04:51Some of us believe there are no options.
04:53The Good
04:54Much like they had decades prior with Mirai Ninja,
04:56Japan released a respected video game film that the US never saw a theatrical release of,
05:01with Takashi Miike's Ace Attorney.
05:03The Western Hemisphere would catch up eventually,
05:05as in 2019, a video game film earned a positive Rotten Tomatoes score.
05:13To no one's shot, the film that finally earned critical acclaim,
05:17was the first ever live-action Pokemon movie, Detective Pikachu.
05:20From then on, the floodgates opened, as a tour of filmmakers released video game
05:24films that won praise from audiences and critics.
05:29These included Werewolves Within, Gran Turismo, and the Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy.
05:34The Golden Age wasn't confined to movies, of course.
05:37Great video game shows had never gone away, and were part of the wave of prestige TV.
05:42Shows like The Last of Us, Arcane, and Fallout proved that video games were particularly
05:47great for long-form adaptations.
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06:06Today, some predict that video game adaptations may
06:09even overtake superhero movies in terms of cultural relevance.
06:12Oh, we have hit the big time!
06:16While, like any other source material, there is the occasional dud.
06:19The good adaptations far outnumber the bad.
06:21With promising adaptations like Ghost of Tsushima and The Legend of Zelda on the Horizon,
06:26there is no telling what the future holds.
06:28Tell me the truth.
06:30How proficient are you right now, wielding that sword on your back?
06:33What are your favorite and least favorite video game adaptations?
06:36Let us know in the comments down below.
06:38L-L-L-L-L-Lava, ch-ch-ch-ch-chicken!
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